The Red Wraith
by Kanassa
Summary: What do you do when you find out you have new abnormal abilities? Go to a doctor to check it out? Or go out to fight crime in a city ignorant of it? Some might think that's a bit rash, illogical and childish. But for Ruby Rose, it's a dream come true. So, how does her first night as a Vigilante go? Well...It could of been better
1. Chapter 1 - The First Night

_Vale, a city of garbage and filth that clog up the drain in their sink of corruption, you know, that filth you don't really notice that come from your feet when you're too lazy to use the shower and just prop it up on the sink an- Uh, wait. Where was I going again? Oh yeah, this city is like rice and vegetables. You scope it all up in one bite and it tastes wonderful, but one part of your tongue knows it just ate some terrifying green creature. Does that work?_

 _Ah, to hell with it. With a city as deep in corruption as this, someone needs to step up. To act as a light in the darkness. To be the monkey in the bad carnival prizes. To be_ _the terror that flaps in the night. The_ _chill that runs up your spine. To be the bacon in the fridge. To be a beacon of hope to all. I am that someone, I will gladly take on the responsibility of the task. I am-_

The blood curdling scream that broke out through the silence of the night cut off the small girl's inner monologue, prompting her pale head to turn in it's usual and naturally heroic fashion in the direction of the scream, her inner hero senses flaring. ''A call of distress, someone is in dire danger. It looks like a job for...uh...me!'' Noting to herself to later continue her quest to find herself a name for her alter-ego, she took off at full speed from the flat top of the McRonalds french fry billboard and onto the base of the roof, her crimson cape caught in the wind and slightly unbalancing her landing _(Which I still landed MOSTLY flawlessly!)_ and causing a few stumbles across the roof.

The scream rang out yet again upon her approach though much louder this time to indicate that she was growing close to the origin of the scream, from what she could tell from the tone and lack of masculinity she could only come to the conclusion that the victim of today's danger must of been a small girl. _Like me...Except, of course I'm not small, just vertically challenged!_

Her feet reach the edge of the rooftop in the next few seconds and without hesitation, a large exert of force travelling down towards the soles of her feet, feels the force slam into the ground and propel the hooded girl's feet forward into the air and towards the lower position of the adjacent rooftop. Her feet soon come into contact with the edge of the other roof and she throws her upper body forward, pushing her small body into a forward landing roll across the metal surface of the roof that was rather painful for her head and messing up her raven hair. _Awww, Yang's gonna kill me! She spent an hour with the straightener..._ When the soles of her black combat boots made contact with the roof again she pushed with her feet yet again and rose up into a standing position, only for this to result in her own loss of footing and with a few stumbles forward she was sent head first back into the ground.

 _Arg, the wind is attacking. I knew nature hated me!_ The hood that was sown into the top of her crimson cloak had managed to throw itself over her head before she hit the ground, now finding the hood's bright materials to have taken it's position over her silver eyes and hook the edge on her sharp chin. _Dammit, cloak. I need my eyes! Move out the way!_ There was a few struggles to remove herself from the ground and back up into her heroic running, yet the lack of sight and the tangled cloth seemed to leave her at a point in the direction of madness and further entanglement. _This is so un-Heroy, I hope no one sees this. That would totally flush my super hero career down the toilet._

After a few more sequences of failed struggles and vain gasps of fatigue she managed to work her small fingers through the twist and turns of the cloak, moving the tips around to pull the curves free from wrapping around her leg and soon releasing her body, allowing her to reach up and pull down the sigh-blocking hood while she got into a sitting position. _And yet another example of woman trumping cloth!_

Pushing herself to her feet the crimson clad heroin continued her dashes to the cries of terror coming from the dark streets below, the voices of distress becoming more audible as she made her way closer to the source. When the voices finally became clear enough for words to be formed the girl brought herself to a kneeling position at the edge of the roof, her head peaking over to look down at the assortment of clearly armed men moving around wooden crates. _They must be smuggling illegal goods! What kind of criminal still uses wooden crates?_

"You got our merchandise?" A rather deep and foreign sounding tone asked, coming from a bulky looking man in a fur coat that seemed to lead a group of what Ruby would defiantly describe as 'shady' individuals. Facing him was a tall and paler man, dark hair sprawling over the sides of his head, his eyes covered by _orange_ tined spectacles just above a growing beard. It took the girl a moment to notice his strange attire, a stripped white shirt along with a black vest and blood red tie. _He looks like one of those grizzled bartenders from TV. On second thought, didn't Yang go on about a club owner that looked like that…Julie? Junni? Jacob?...Junior?_

"I don't know who wants this many illegal copies of Red vs Blue…But yeah, we got em. You have the dust?" Junior lit a cigarette as he gestured to one of his suit-clad people to open one of the crates, revealing the contents of… _DVD's!? They're going through all this trouble to smuggle DVD's!?_

A scream from nearby interrupted the two's illegal conversation, the same scream that had led he cloaked girl to this very place. _They must be torturing the poor girl I_ mus _-_ Junior turned his head towards the source of the noise. "That's the fifth time today, Vomit Boy! I'm conducting business here!"

"Sorry, Mr Junior, SIR. It's just that the crates here are REALLY heavy, I keep dropping them on my foot!" _Omn, damnit…_ The scream came yet again "Ah! It's bleeding, I swear it's bleeding!'' Junior merely shook his head in shame, most likely contemplating why this person was even allowed to work with him, before returning to his business.

"Look, just give me the dust before my pride is hurt any more" Junior straightened out his vest as the cold night air caressed his skin, looking up at the opposite man, they seemed to stare each other down for such a long duration hat Ruby was starting to think they were communicating with their minds.

The man suddenly burst out into a hearty laugh to which even Junior was confused by, the bulky man gripped his chest in an effort to contain the laughter. After a while he finally let out his last laugh, standing like a tower and looking down on Junior as he gave out a cruel smirk. "Kill them all" Ruby's eyes widened as he scene played out before her, the other gangster's firearms seemingly appearing out of nowhere before they kept their firearms aimed threateningly in the direction of the men behind Junior.

"What the hell are you doing, Wolf?" Junior growled at the traitor with malice in his tone.

"Giving you your just deserves, little cub" 'Wolf' reached into the folds of his coat and pulled out a much smaller weapon then the others, his was just a simple hand gun, but for Ruby it was much more threatening. Something about a weapon so small being able to do so much damage unnerved her a bit.

"What!? You bastard…" Junior backs away from the deadly weapon, his hands up as Wolf lets out another laugh. "You know who I work for!"

"Torchwick. Yes, I know. The Krugar knows as well and as you know he's very protective of his territory, but he's especially protective when challenged by a Little Pup pretending to be a Lion" Ruby had enough time watching as the man drew close to ending his speech, her hand slipping down to grip the wooden handle of her weapon, pushing herself to her feet as she prepares to intervene. "Let your pitiful leader take your corpse as a message to leave town while he still has legs to do so''

His finger pulled back on the weapon's trigger, but as he did he felt a rush of wind dart past him as a red blur seemed to stay in his vision for a few seconds with a slight gleam of metal, before he knew it something had cut across his hand and the gun was launched into the air by its recoil; Junior seemed to have just been able to avoid the shot.

"What in the hell was that!?" Wolf growled at Junior who had now ended up on the ground, slowly attempting to shuffle away from the scene.

Junior did not get a chance to answer the man as one of his people screamed "Over there!" The two men looked to the side where a truck full of crates had pulled to a stop, the drier had suddenly disappeared from view, most likely cowering. Atop the vehicle stood a small figure that seemed to somehow stand directly in the moonlight, adorned in a crimson cloak that billowed in the wind mixed with black cloth that blended in with the night, making the figure almost invisible aside from the red cloak. Glinting in the moon's deadly gaze was the metal top of a stainless and sharp edge attached to a wooden base, forming the threatening resemblance to a scythe.

"It's a ghost! I knew operating in October was a bad idea!"

"No, man. That's not a ghost! Look at that scythe and I don't think it even has a face. It's the Grim Reaper!"

 _Alright, speech time!_ "I am the ghost who slide in the night, I am the chill up your spine-" A barrage of bullets came her way as the few who weren't stunned by her entrance realised she was a threat, for a moment she was in the way of the bullets, but in only a second she was off the truck's roof and charging right at one of her attackers. "-I am the crusader of the law, the spirit that lurks wherever there is wrong doing-" Her scythe came up from beside her to push the tip into the trigger of the other man's weapon, twisting the handle to forcefully push the gun out of his hands, before moving the scythe's handle down to sweep under the man's leg. "-I am the angle of judgment-"

The man collapsed to the floor just as bullets fired towards the two, the girl now pushing against the ground to roll out of the way. "-Look upon me now and fear my very presence-" She darted towards the other attacker, a tall woman wearing the same attire as the others, who couldn't see to aim at the moment as the figure managed to easily dart out of danger. It didn't take long for the figure to reach her and, before the woman could react, the scythe came up with the wooden handle following to collide with the woman's head, leaving her to collapse unconscious. "-For I am-"

Ruby let out a gasp of pain as a bullet skimmed across her shoulder, allowing a good enough wound to cause a good amount of blood to trickle out. She turned her head to look at the smiling face of Wolf, who approached her with his gun back in hand. His voice sending a wave of fear through her "-a snake who thinks herself a dragon" _No sudden movements…wait for an opportunity…_

"Is that all you do? Spout stupid animal metaphors? Because it ain't that scar _y_ " She gritted her teeth as he let out a laugh at her retort, his weapon still trained on her. "Maybe if you concentrated less on that you would of hit me!"

He growled back at her slightly, the comment obviously taking a small effect on him. _Note to self: DON'T PISS OFF THE GUY THAT CAN FLATTEN YOUR HEAD LIKE A PANCAKE UNTIL YOU'RE SURE YOU CAN WIN!_ "Don't live in ignorance little Snake, I can smell your blood. And like a shark, I can't wait to taste it"

"...You mean…YOU'RE A VAMPIRE!?" Ruby gasped

"Wha- NO! I was trying to be threatening! I'm not actually going to drink your blood, just spill it all over the floor!"

"Oh, that makes much more se- Hey! That's not any better!" Ruby jumped back as the man emitted another growl at her, bringing up her scythe towards him with her feet square against the ground in case she needed to move quickly.

"Enough of your games! These attempts to stall your demise are ruffling my fur!" He didn't hesitate for a moment, firing round after round at the girl, fortunately for her the brief jump back she took allowed her enough distance an time to run towards cover.

Unfortunately for her the beast of a man wasn't exactly content with just standing still and watching his prey run away, resulting in him bolting after her with a yell of inaudible taunts. _Something about a Puma and a Warthog…_ Her wounded shoulder was not exactly speeding her up in the process, though she had no time to curse it as another shot was fired, though this seemed to purposely miss her by a few inches around her feet, prompting her to jump up in surprise and stopping her dashing; which she quickly regretted as it allowed Wolf to send his elbow into her back, forcing her to the floor. Wolf now towered over her with a sickening grin, his hand gun now by his side

Thinking quickly Ruby pulled her scythe towards her, not hesitating to slam the metal edge of the scythe into the side of his leg, coaxing out a yell of utter pain as blood started to drip from the new wound. Taking advantage of the small window of surprise due to her stab, she pulled herself to her feet and attempted to slam the wooden handle of the scythe into the man's head, but it didn't seem to affect him much, only allowing him to ram his fist into her stomach.

A few metres away from the fight Junior found himself dragging himself towards the front of the truck, trying his best not to be noticed by the two deadly fighters. A crunch in the mud only a few metres behind him cause the man to stop dead in his tracks, turning his head slightly he could see that one of the men knocked out by the girl before had now fully regained their composure and had noticed hIm escaping. Unfortunately for him it wasn't one of his men.

"Where are you going, Junior? The Krugar said you gotta die" The gangster regained his weapon from the ground, holding it up to aim at the now defenceless Junior. "Don't scream too much" Junior closed his eyes tightly, his teeth grinding together as he looked at the gun. Thinking about how that gun, the van and the two fighting in the background would be the last thing he'd ever see, how he'll never be able to make things up to his mother, how he'd never get to ask that one que- _Is it me, or should I be dead by now?_

He turned around curiously to see that the attacker was now back on the ground, the van's door was lying wide open, a blond and scrawny looking boy now stood by the door with a expression as if he was a deer caught in headlights. "Oh, god. I'M SO SORRY, MR JUNIOR, SIR! I didn't mean to.."

"V-vomit boy? Did you just knock him out? With the car door?" When the by nodded with another apology, Junior simply shook his head and advanced towards the van. "Alright, get in. You're driving me back to Torchwick, I'm not going to an early grave by the big bad wolf or little red riding hood"

"Of course, Sir!" The boy replied suddenly, quickly jumping into the drivers side of the Van as Junior got in the other. "Seat belts on…Feet off the brakes…"

"What the hell were you doing n the van anyway? You're supposed to be moving boxes"

"….Cowering"

"Just drive"

Ruby felt her breath hitch an her lungs near bursting point as Wolf's gloved hand held her by the neck, forcing her against the side of the van with an angered look, squeezing her already small neck. "You lead a long chase, but a good hunter always gets his prey. And I am nothing less then the best! Though, to be fair you were quite the fighter, little Snake. I shall remember this fight as I feast on the royalties of this successful hunt"

"I am not food!" Ruby coughs out as she starts to desperately kick at the man to seemingly no effect, she swung again, but her feet seemed to act like twigs when compared to the log sized bones the man must have had. Soon she couldn't even get the energy to swing her legs any longer, his choking hands sapping the last of any oxygen get had as they began to crush her bones. _Damn it…I need help...What type of super hero needs help?_

Someone must have been able to hear her pleading thoughts when the van suddenly started to move away, the now active side starting to pull her body with it as Wolf pressed her against it. The bulky man in question was a little unbalanced by the sudden strong pull of the van, coupled with Ruby's few kicks he was sent stumbling forward slightly, his grip on Ruby loosening.

She took this opportunity to pry open the clasp on his entwined fingers just managing to fire herself from his neck and send herself tumbling to the floor, but even with her body hurting all over se wasted no time and started to crawl away as quickly as she could, slowly rising into a sprint as her eyes searched her surrounding for her fallen weapon.

It's metal edge gave out a glint that allowed her to just spot it nearby where she had struggled with Wolf before, her feet managed to carry her over to her scythe quickly though she could hear Wolf's grunts as he seemed to have recovered from his stumbles. He was in hot pursuit even though Ruby had a head start, when she reached down to take hold of the scythe he was just within arm's reach, his panting easy to hear at such a close distance.

Her small hand managed to form a strong grip around the handle of the scythe, bringing it upwards as she twisted around to face her pursuer, the momentum of the pull and turn guiding the metal edge of the weapon around to slice across the man's face, causing a cut to appear from his cheek to his nose.

Wolf made an attempt to ram his fist at her moving figure, but she was quick enough to evade the attack before she brought her scythe back around again to slash across his chest. He backed away panting, his hand reaching up to feel his wounds and clasp the now stained fabric. "This snake has more bite then I first assumed" He smirked down at her, before sirens were heard wailing in the distance. "But it seems I don't have the time to fully test the power of that bite"

"He, I'm not letting you run away!" Ruby blurted out through her wild panting, attempting to slash at the man again, though her aim wasn't as good as before, her exhaustion was starting to catch up with her.

"You're flesh is damaged and your strength is failing, but the time it would take to kill you would give the law an advantage" He started to turn, Ruby attempted to move forward but the sting in her shoulder brought her to the thought that his words rung true. "Though don't fret, Little Snake. I will be looking for you. A good hunter always gets his prey" With that the man walked away with no resistance from Ruby, who now gripped her shoulder wound.

 _Amateur…A real hero would of have him knocked out for the police to find._ The girl looked towards the source of the siren as they approached, police lights blaring when the cars pulled dup by the site of the fight. By the time they got there, Ruby had managed to make herself scarce and leave the scene with only some of her blood on the floor.

 _Well… For my first night as a Super Hero, I guess I did okay… But I'm not going to let that Wolf guy get away next time. Or my name isn't… Arg, still can't think of a name._ She made her way through the streets, careful not to let anyone notice that there was a bleeding little girl walking around as she made her way back to the window of her apartment building. _I'll master this superhero business, even if it kills me…_


	2. Chapter 2 - A New Lead

Ruby let out yet another scream of pain that night accompanied by a wince as the white material of the swab went across her wounded arm, the blood starting to soak the cleaning tool as it sucked up her stains. The swab was pulled away from the raven haired boy that noticed it was now to bloody to be effective, dropping the used swab in the bin beside him the boy reached into a green box to retrieve a new one.

"How much longer until this stops!?" Ruby moaned as she attempted to move again, the boy's hand appearing in an instant to push her down with a stern gaze gracing his features.

"Stop squirming or this will take longer" He kept his hand firmly in place against her struggling, giving her the feeling that she was fighting against steel "I had to hold down Nora at the dentists, I can do this all day"

Ruby ceased her squirming and laid still on the table with a pout "Smart ass…" She felt the swab move up her arm again, before heading directly to her neck where a nasty dark bruise had developed. "It hurts…"

"You got shot in the shoulder and almost strangle to death, did you really expect anything different?" He got no response aside from another pout and a slight hiss as he pressed the soaked swab against her bruise. "You're lucky to be alive"

"Not luck. Skill!" Ruby pointed out with a prideful grin, though it immediately withdrew as she recalled she hadn't completely succeeded. "And my speed helps to…"

"You're going to need more than your powers to survive out there, especially when your only other defence is an old scythe that's barley holding itself together" The boy, Renn, looked over to the scythe in the corner of the room, it leaned against the wall in a very fragile state.

"Hey, don't insult moonshine! He's my baby!" Renn had noticed in his few years of knowing Ruby and her insane roommate that she had more attachment to weapons more than Nora was attached to pancakes. "He works perfectly well, thank you very much! He sure scared those gangsters, didn't you, my sweet?"

Ren simply gripped the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger, a sigh emitting from his lips as he watched the supposedly grown up woman take hold of the scythe and coddle it like a child. "Look, I'm done here…and have really seen enough" Ren put away his various tools back in the green container. "Just get some rest and you should be well enough in a day or two"

"Then after that, I'm back on the prowl! And when I see that animal obsessed...uh...man I'm gonna kick him into the dirt! ...As soon as I get past his powers anyway...BUT I'LL GET HIM!"

Ren's brow rose slightly at her words, holding back a small smile at her determination. "Powers?"

"Yeah, every time I hit him, it felt like there was something blocking the attack and on the few times I managed to harm him...I dunno, it felt like I was doing less damage than I should of..."

"Very...Peculiar..."

He began to walk away towards the apartment door with his medical supplies in hand, hearing the slight clink as Ruby put 'Moonshine' back down. "Thank you, Ren. I feel much better now" He craned his neck slightly to see her bright smile as she thanked him, the smile itself infectsous as soon he too held a smile.

"Your welcome, Ruby. Now, rest!"

"Yes, sir!" With a mock salute Ren pushed through the sickly green door and disappeared for the night.

* * *

Jaune woke up with one hell of a back ache the next day though it wasn't an unexpected effect, the bed was not exactly a luxury hotel bed. It was lumpy, the covers were torn, the mattress smelt of mouldy apple and he could swear the springs inside the mattress were completely broken. The loud roar of a squeak from the bed that accompanied his own groggy yawn did nothing to disprove his thoughts.

He took a moment to recall the night before, happy for once that he woke up without a mental hammer attempting to crack through his skull. Ah, yes. Last night, a complete and total failure… At least for once it wasn't my fault. Acting as Junior's getaway driver was a quiet and brief job, much less painful then moving boxes of seemingly weighted illegal goods, there wasn't much words exchanged between the two while Jaune drove except for Junior to give a direction.

Junior had simply dragged Jaune into what he had learned was the man's club "Junior's" (No one ever said Junior was modest) and told Jaune to just use an old storage closet to wait in until Junior had further orders. Jaune was guessing by now that the well-suited man had completely forgotten about him.

With another yawn escaping his mouth Jaune patted his clothing and headed for the small door, careful not to trip over an abandoned broom at his feet, eventually reaching the door and pushing his way through. The door opened into a large circular room that looked akin to some sort of inside courtyard, almost every aspect of the room was brightly white, nearly blinding the unsuspecting Jaune.

Past the large glittering grid dance floor and around the towering pillars of what Jaune assumed was marble stood a large bar, Junior sits on one of the stools with two of his men beside him as he grumpily downs his glass of alcohol.

"This tastes like shit, where's the bartender!? I shouldn't have to mix my own alcohol!" He slammed the glass down on the bar with a glare sent at the two beside him, one of which shrugged while the other answered.

"Don't you remember, Boss? Tony had an accident last week…"

Junior blinked, not hearing about Tony's situation. "Huh? What happened to Tony!?"

"You know he was an addict…" The crook replied with his head down, Junior now scratching his chin. Shit, my bartender was hyped up on drugs? "...A cookie addict…"

"Huh!?"

The other crook took off his hand and placed it over his chest as he began to tear up, his friend copying him. "He was in his prime, a good guy. But once he had one spec of those damn chocolate chips…He couldn't stop. And when he couldn't get his hands on them? He resorted to desperate means. Broke into the Old Bria Broad's house, she caught him with his hand in the cookie jar. He never saw that pineapple coming…"

"He was killed…by a pineapple?"

"No! The pineapple head trauma coupled with his unhealthy habit pushed him into a cookie coma, may Omn guide him through this!" The currently silent crook found himself bursting into tears and was pulled into a hug by the other.

These are the times I wonder why I ever hired these guys… "So, what you're saying is, I have no bartender?" His only response was more gasps as one cried into another's shoulder, muttering 'We promised we would be strong', turning away from the humiliating scene Junior found Jaune approaching them. "Hey, Vomit Boy! You know anything about alcohol?"

"My name's Jaune… But I kind of do…I used to mix drinks for my mother when she couldn't' afford to go to a bar, picked up a few skills in that time and a small taste for the stuff…" Jaune explained nervously to his boss, not sure why the man was asking.

"Good, make me a drink. I don't pay you to…" Junior blinked every few seconds as he thought for a moment, pausing before asking "What do you do?" Jaune moved behind the bar, picking up various labelled bottles and pouring them into a small two-piece metal container.

"Uh, I move stuff?" He began to shake the container with the liquids inside sloshing together "You never really gave me a specific role, sir. You just yell at me to do stuff" After a few more shakes Jaune pulled out a glass from under the bar, placing it on the top as he opened up the container, pouring the mixture into the cup while his other hand reached for ice cubes.

"Right…" Junior instantly reaches forward to snatch the glass away before raising it to his lips and downing it's contents. "Hmmm. Not bad, Vomit Boy. For one who 'used to' mix em" He slid the glass back over to Jaune "Now, make me some more. I need some alcohol induced courage"

"What do you need courage for, Sir?" Jaune questioned as he gathered more bottles, his tone low in case he accidentally offended Junior.

"Because, I'm the one who has to tell the big Boss man why his illegal dealings haven't churned up any greens" The gangster almost yelled, slamming his fist on the table. "He ain't no slouch, ain't very patient either"

"You mean that Torchwick guy the hairy guy mentioned earlier?"

Junior chuckles slightly, looking the boy over with a raised brow "You don't know much about what goes on in this city, do you Vomit Boy?"

"It's ja-…No, I don't. Sir. I only moved here last month" The blond finished the next drink and slid it over to Junior. "Couldn't really get a job, employers didn't really think much of me…But you were offering cash...And I wasn't exactly in a position to refuse, so here I am"

"I didn't ask for your life story, kid" Junior took a few sips of the next drink, his eyes rolling at Jaune's words. "Now, focusing on what we were actually talking about. Torchwick is my boss, yeah. He's this town's new rising star in crime, now with most stars he was rather ambitious. Walked right up to other gang leaders in town and straight up took them down from the top to the bottom. The Krugar is what you could call the kingpin of this town, an old one at that, he was impressed with Torchwick's efforts at the time; even offered Torchwick a chance to join him"

"You know what Torchwick did? He walked straight up to the Krugar and laughed in his face, because Torchwick doesn't stand under nobody's shadow. And he doesn't take orders from old geezers" Junior chuckled again and fully downed the drink

The blond nodded along with Junior's explanation before shaking his head "Hang on. If Torchwick pissed off the Krugar, why would you be doing deals with him?"

"We weren't doing deals with HIM, well, at least we thought we weren't. Wolf put up an offer, Torchwick took the bait. We didn't know that Wolf had been hired by the Krugar. Then that stupid Red Riding Hood wannabe came in to make everything worse"

"Worse? Didn't she save your life?" Jaune pointed out almost instantly, his head tilted and the alcohol now back down on the bar. Junior's mouth turned downwards into a frown at Jaune, a spark of anger in the man's eyes that scared Jaune a bit.

"What…What did you say?" The tone was obviously a mix of anger and offense, Junior glaring daggers at Jaune as the boy attempted to stutter out an answer. But he didn't get the chance as Junior reached forward, throwing the top of his body over the bar to grab a firm hold of Jaune's throat. "Don't you ever mention that again!"

"Y-y-yes, sir! P-please let go!" The boy desperately pleaded through choking gasps, the gloved fingers around his throat making it hard to sound out words. It was only a few minutes later when Junior abided by the request, loosening his grip and dropping the boy to the floor.

"Now, get outta here. I'm tired of looking at your face"

* * *

"RUBY!" A loud and booming tone filled the apartment, packed full of energetic excitement that could probably power a city. Though it certainly did a good job of pulling Ruby roughly from her world of dreams and into a morning yawn… as she tumbled off of her bed due to her sudden rush from waking up.

The door to the room came flying open with a sound similar to a sudden car crash, feet stomping across the soft carpet as a loud sing-song voice giggled as it approached the fallen girl. "Ruby, stop kissing the floor, its dirty!" A small hand reached down and took Ruby by the back of her shirt, pulling the small form up to her feet.

 _You do not know the half of it, I really hope that was a chocolate that fell into my mouth… A month old, hair, eight-legged chocolate…_ Ruby yawned again as she was spun around to face the gleaming freckled face of her roommate, Nora Valkyrie, or as Ren liked to all her, 'The Sugar High that never ended'. "The bed shoved me off, apparently I was sleeping in" She joked with her own cheerful smile.

"I'll add that to the list of inanimate objects that hate you!" Nora pulled out a notepad from her breast pocket on her green top, flipping through to find a free page (A lot of drawings of what Ruby thought were bathing on top of a pancakes), quickly finding the three page long list _The Water Fountain, those stupidly big school toilets, Washing machines…The list goes on, the war on crime may be on the rise, but the War of the Rose and the Inanimate Objects is still in full swing!_

"That list grows longer by the day…" Ruby stretched out her arms lazily as she let out a groan, her eyes blinking rapidly in their attempt to re-adjust to the room's brightness. "You made breakfast yet?"

"Nope! I couldn't because I was out with Ren last night after he was with you and we were like, together, but not together together so we stayed up all night at this cute little café that just served THE BEST pancakes and he told me that you got hit when trying out your super hero thing and I was shocked but you were okay an-" The mind of little Ruby felt like it was about to shut down completely due to the shear speed of Nora's voice, making most of her words barley understandable and speaking so fast that even Ruby felt herself run out of breath from just listening.

"Nora!" Her words did not penetrate the fortress that was the ginger's sheer volume and speed, the 'enthralling' story of Nora was too fast for Ruby to even understand now, only getting small words here and there. _What did she do with Ren's pole? Where did he get a pole!?_ "NORA!"

"-then I wonder if I should bring you something home so I did here it is!- Huh?" Nora blinked innocently after throwing a small packet of cookies towards Ruby (Who fought to remain calm in the presence of such good food…).

"I'll make breakfast then" Ruby made sure her words wouldn't be interpreted as something for another fast paced story, walking past Nora and approaching the small kitchen on the other side of the apartment.

"Are you sure?" Nora's voice was slightly uneasy as she followed Ruby through the apartment, the girl in question spinning around with her hands on her hips, a frown on her face.

"Why?"

"You're not a good cook" The ginger haired woman stated bluntly.

The raven haired woman first scoffed at the notion, crossing her arms as she put on the most offensive expression she could muster. "I'll have you know, I'm a marvellous cook! My mum-I mean, Mother always had me as her kitchen assistant. Especially when a bowl of chocolate needed to be cleaned!"

"You blew up the kitchen last time!"

"The oven malfunctioned!"

"I'm pretty sure you kicked it"

"I thought it was… Okay, I get it… You're in denial" Ruby pointed an accusing finger at the woman opposite her, who simply shook her head. _I am an awesome cook… I know it!_

"If that's what you want to believe, Ruby" Nora giggled as she reached forward to pat Ruby on the head, receiving angry grumbles though no protests from the girl. "I'll make breakfast…We're having PANCAKES" If there was one thing Nora loved more than life itself, it was pancakes. Ruby never got the favouritism towards the product, it was just some buttery goodness (Though she would never mention this to Nora), but Nora always looked at it as if she saw the Holy Omn in place of the pancakes and at the same time wanted to eat him.

Ruby let a sigh escape her lips "Fine. But you have to make extra so I can get some BEFORE you eat all of it like the last time" Entering the kitchen she saw Nora passively wave off the comment, skipping into the kitchen along with Ruby.

"While I'm cooking, could you do your bestie a solid? I'm outta dust" Nora paused to make sure Ruby was listening, rummaging through a draw to pull out her small purse. "Can you go down to 'Dust till Dawn' and get me some? Pwease?"

 _I do feel the need to walk, can't stay here drooling over pancakes with Nora all day. Especially after last night, I need to be active!_ "Sure, I'll get you some dust" Ruby first made sure to enter the shower and get out of her 'Just-woke-up-looking-like-a-goblin' phase of her morning, when leaving the bathroom she made her way over to the front door, the various loud annoyances of their neighbouring apartment's daily routines more audible the closer she got.

"Tell the Old Man and Flynt that I said Spaghetti!"

* * *

Weiss Schnee sat straight and neatly in her large white chair at the end of the room spanning table, various men and woman in uniforms sitting on the table's sides, though some in the guise of a hologram, with all eyes on her. Her gaze spanning all of them was one of focus and filled with ice, her voice spouting subtle venom. "You still have yet to invest, Mr Dagrin"

One of the holograms returned her Stony gaze with a small clearing of his throat "I'm afraid that investment will be quite impossible" Weiss raised a brow with a bored and knowing 'oh?' "You see, I make it a rule of mine to only gamble when the odds are in your favour. But I do not see the good odds in investing my money in a company I simply do not trust"

"Do not trust? Unless I'm mistaken, Mr Dagrin, up until a month ago you were more than ecstatic to invest in Schnee Corp" Eye darted between the two from the other members in the room, Weiss's statement causing an unreadable expression from Dagrin, Weiss still seeming ice cold. "It was the best investment you'd ever made, words from your own mouth"

"That was before the rumours began to circulate, before your intentions began to surface" Weiss's stare seemed to flash with a moment of anger, her fingers intertwining to press into her hands. "I don't know about anyone else here, but I'm not comfortable placing money in the hands of a common criminal. Your father has one to many claims against him of his suspicious activity, to many to be ignored"

"Rumours, no matter how frequent, are still rumours when there is little to no evidence to back up such outlandish claims"

"Claims that you're father, who I'd like to mention has failed to publicly appear in the company, has failed to even confront" Dargin fixed Weiss with a confident stare, the room feeling as if a storm had passed over it. "He either cannot muster the courage or need to dash these rumours or he's hiding from the exposed truth, either way makes me doubt my investment"

"My father has higher priorities then to face baseless rumours about his business. He is busy pouring his heart and soul towards the goal he's been approaching for twenty years, saving this city" The snow haired heiress made her way towards the large stretch of glass that provided her with sprawling view of the city, the height of the tower that she currently resided in allowed her an almost full view.

"Need I remind you of what this city used to be? A swamp for chaos, anarchy and crime. The streets ran with the cold blood of injustice, it was no were near liveable. But because of my father's efforts, this city has only prospered. The crime rate has decreased dramatically, employment rates are up, our military grows stronger by the day" Swiftly she spun on her heel to face the table again. "With or without your funding, we will reach our goal. This city will be the paradise it deserves to be. You have a chance to make that process faster and more efficient. Do you really wish to shy away from such a grand opportunity because of rumours?"

Weiss's speech pushed Dargin to silence for the moment, his eyebrows furrowed as he looked around the room, as if reaching for any type of support on his side. Before long the man sighed in defeat, hanging his head to stare down at the floor. "Perhaps I was rash with my accusations… After further consideration, I would be…thrilled to further fund your contribution to the city"

 _Hm, Winter was right. Throwing in dramatic wording and metaphors is much more effective than simply yelling…_ She gave the man a pleased smile as she nodded, placing herself back in her seat. "Good, we hope that your loyalty doesn't come into doubt ever again"

* * *

Jaune groaned to himself as he spotted his destination, a rather small and barely noticeable building that was pushed to the back of the heavily populated street. The outside walls were visibly old, a few cracks by the bottom with a noticeable dim tinge to the colour. Over the small front door was a sign reading "Dust 'till Dawn", a sign that looked as if it was barley holding on to the wall.

 _What are you doing with your life, Jaune? His inner voice questioned as he approached the shop, pushing through the crowd with his head down. You came to this city to get a better life, to make mom and dad proud. What are they going to think when they find out you're a common criminal now?_ He started to pick up the pace of his pushing, as if attempting to run away from the voice. He knew what is spoke was true, he constantly said it to himself, but he wouldn't let it get in his way. Junior wanted him to drop off a message to the small shop, he didn't know the contents of the message, but at the same time he didn't want to know. The less he knew, the less guilty he'd feel. At least that's what he continued to tell himself all the way to the door.

"Excuse me?" A voice broke through his thoughts, well for him it was more like a desperate squeak he almost couldn't understand, but either way it made him jump slightly. His body froze up on the spot, not daring to look towards the person behind him. "You've been staring at the door for a few minutes now… I was wondering if I could come through…"

"H-huh?" Behind him stood a girl that was only tall enough to reach his chest, making him at first entirely miss her when turning around, her silver eyes staring up at him nervously.

"You're…You're kind of blocking the way…" She raises her hands, indicating towards the door and then to the rather narrow way to it.

"Oh, sorry!" He immediately backed away with a nervous laugh, his back pushing the door open and allowing him to move away from inconveniencing the small girl. The girl in return simply nodded awkwardly, clearly confused on what she was supposed to do other then mutter 'thanks' before taking off into the shop. This left Jaune to gaze at her as he attempted to regain his composure, though the thought of how to not embarrass himself faded away the more he watched the small girl make her way to the counter, past a few display glasses. When she rang the front bell and called out for service, Jaune couldn't help but notice that her voice was rather…familiar. _Have I met her before?_

Ruby's calls for service were almost immediately answered as the door behind the counter was immediately pushed open, a tall dark skinned figure made his way into view, his arms filled with small wooden boxes leaning against his dirtied blue apron. His face had a wide smile etched into it upon spotting Ruby behind the counter, placing the boxes down on the counter the man greeted the small girl. "Hey, Little Red! How's it been hanging?"

"Yo, it's been...snooze-vile up in...da house? Uh, what's up with you, my...Brotha?" The man shook his head at the girl's attempt at speaking slang, well slang in it's loosest possible definition.

Getting over her terrible attempt at...speaking, he replied. "It's been cool, though Gramps hasn't become any quieter since your last visit. But I'm pretty sure you didn't come here just to hear me complain about my old man"

She nodded with another nervous laugh. "Nora needs some more dust"

Flynt Coal and Ruby weren't exactly close friends, but after becoming a regular customer to the small store that the man ran along with his grampa she and Nora had managed to have fun befriending the man, though Ruby had developed the rather annoying tendency to attempt slang due to hearing a few curious words from Flynt. "What did she waste it all on this time?"

"I don't know, but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with making pancakes" Flynt moved over to the side of the shop where an 'army' of silver tinted tubes descended from the ceiling, glass cases beside them were filled with varying colours of dust, a hose-like attachment at the bottom of the tubes.

He took a circular container from the counter and approached the tubes, moving to the violet dust case, taking a hold of one of the tubes and pulling down on a small lever that stuck out of each case, sticking the hose-end into the container. "If you ask me, she's probably sniffing the stuff like it's the new crack"

"Don't even joke about that! Nora is hyper enough without any thoughts of drugs..." Ruby exclaimed as Flynt watched the container fill up with violet dust, before returning to the counter after letting go of the lever. "Has the store been getting many customers lately?"

Flynt placed the container on the counter, Ruby handing over some lien as payment as she watched him let out a small sigh. "We're...pulling through. Times have been tough with Schnee Co taking away business. Gramps acts like everything's alright, but I'm starting to- Nah...Nah, forget it. We're fine, I'm not gonna bother you with the details"

Ruby wanted to assure him that it was fine to continue, but the look on his face told her that it was most likely not her place to pry. Flynt's gaze went past her now, looking just off to the side behind her, what ever he saw caused his eyebrow to raise as he leaned forward to whisper to Ruby "I think the blonde dude is checking you out"

She gave Flynt a few brief blinks before registering his words, subtly craning her neck to get a good look behind her where she spotted the boy from before staring at her uneasily, his eyes going up and down. Turning her head back toward Flynt with her cheeks now stained crimson. "Really!? That's good, right? Arg, I'm not good at reading people. Is he looking like he's friendly or that he's gonna mug me!?"

Flynt face palmed for a moment, shaking his head "That's not what I meant..."

"Still, muggers could be anywhere!"

"Trust me, he doesn't seem like the type to be hanging around in dark alleys" Flynt went back to standing straight as he waved to the boy "Hey, kid. You buying something or are you just here drool over my friend?"

The boy almost leapt into the ceiling when Flynt spoke, a short gasp/scream jumping from his mouth as his arms shot into the air. "I-Wh-no-I-nothing. I mean..Uh..No, I wasn't... I was...uh...you guys were talking...And I was thinking...And uh..." The boy seemed to fall into a complete and utter mess, Ruby already fixing Flynt with a small and 'judging' stare.

The stare always made Flynt uncomfortable, so he was quick to back away from the girl and approach the boy. "Whoa, dude. I was joking around, just a bit of banter. Nothing to freak out about"

"Uh..." Jaune took a minuet to calm himself down, breathing deeply as he thought to how he was such a nervous wreck. "D-do you know anyone here called.. Flynt Coal?"

"That's me" The reply was instant and gave Jaune some relief that he hadn't stumbled into the wrong place, with confirmation of the person he was looking for Jaune simply held up the small package out towards Flynt. The only writing on the package was the stamp on the back of it, just a large flame symbol, but upon spotting the symbol Flynt snatched the package from Jaune's hand. "Shit..." He turned to Ruby with his face now completely uncomfortable. "You can go now, Red" It wasn't a suggestion.

"Oh, of course. I'll see you around! It's been...uh...real?" Ruby smiled at Flynt and waved at him a little before making her way over to the front door, but unknown to Flynt and Jaune as son as they turned their gazes away from the door Ruby darted behind on of the display cases, crouching down and poking her head out the side of it.

Flynt grabbed a hold of Jaune's arm and pulled him over to the counter with a slight grunt, grasping the package in his hand. "Another one of Torchwick's messengers? Here to make me another 'offer'?"

"What? I don't know what you'r-"

"Like I said last time, no deal. I can get money on my own, legally" Flynt threw the package onto the counter, turning sharply to glare at the already nervous Jaune. "You tell Torchwick that...that those days are behind me!"

 _Torchwick!? Didn't my furry, animal one-liners spewing friend last night mention him? And what does Flynt mean by 'behind' him?_ "L-look, S-sir. I mean, man. I'm just delivering the package, I don't know what you're talking about" He held up his hands as if to shield him from Flynt

"Well, take this message back to Torchwick. No deal" Jaune nodded silently in response, backing away from the obviously angry man. Flynt turned back to the counter, slamming his hands into the counter top, leaning on it as he breathed deeply, once in a while letting out mutters of "I can do this...I can do this... I don't need Torchwick"

Jaune quickly scrambled back towards the door, completely missing Ruby's presence in his rush. _So, this Torchwick guy wants Flynt to help him with something...What could he want? Flynt does play a mean saxophone, but I doubt this is a legal option. What ever Torchwick wants, the only lead I have on him is that boy... Well, Rubes. You promised you would take on crime. Better start living up to your promises!_

* * *

A slow and smooth tune drift through the walls of the rather large room that threatened to cause a headache from the deep green walls that added to the dim lighting, large paintings adorned each side of the room, golden frames holding old paintings hanging in front of small statues like a large room of odd wonders in an art museum. At the end of the long grass green room stood a roaring fireplace along with two large crimson chairs, holding an appearance that told you just how rich the buyer must have been. Only one of the chairs were occupied.

The knock on the oak doors echoed on through the room, slightly disturbing the smooth jazz playing from the speaker before they were suddenly cut off when the ageing man already in the room raised his hand. "Enter."

Wolf pushed the large double doors apart with little effort, his arms straight by his side as he strode into the room, his eyes occasionally glancing around to observe the oddities that populated the room. In a small section of the room where a red carpet led towards, smaller paintings littered the wall, all of them seemingly some sort of self-portrait; all of them had some variation of Gold, Silver and bronze frames. In front of them was a sign labelled with the words 'Hall of Fame'.

One was of a rather squeamish looking man, his hair ruffled and sweaty, his tie undone with his coat hanging off his shoulder and a gun falling from his hand. The frame was bronze, below was a short and simple caption. Big Mouth Barry – Couldn't keep his mouth shut.

Another one was of a fat and very smug looking man in a full black suit, a bubble engulfing his head. Again, a caption. Albert the Squid – Returned to the sea

"Enjoying the display, Mr Wolf?" The voice that questioned him was a tone that gave off the obvious impression of the man's background and age as a very well off gentleman, still situated on the chair with his head in the shadow of the chair's top, only the few flickers of the flames illuminating his greying white hair for a split second.

"It's very informative" Wolf chuckled darkly as he examined more of the individual paintings, a man with short dark hair along with piercing silver eyes in a golden frame, his smile rather childish on his pale face and a hole in his chest. Then a brutish and well-muscled man with a confident snarl, a noose barely visible around his neck. Inside another golden frame was a rather beautiful woman, long flowing white hair with expensive make up and clothing covering her. The only blemish came in the form of some sort of brown slop on her shoulders, a shadow lingering over her.

"It's my legacy. The marks of achievement, of my struggle, of my… sacrifices. My whole journey up to the top of this now pitiful ladder. The gold framed ones are the marks that I take the most pride in, the ones that forever swirl in my mind"

"The trophies of your many hunts, I understand the joy of the hobby well" Wolf smile grew as he turned towards the seated man, standing still as he continued to talk. "But enough of our pleasures, we have our business to discuss. And I'm sure you don't want to waste any time, Mr Sc-"

The Krugar's voice cut through Wolf's sentence like a knife, interrupting him. "In business hours, I am Krugar and you'd be well to remember that" The tone was simple, but the hidden threat wasn't missed.

"Of course, Krugar. My apologies"

"Now, to the business at hand. The deal went wrong"

"Torchwicks cubs still walk, unfortunately. We were caught by surprise" Wolf spoke carefully, no matter how much h liked to roar even he knew that his words needed to be carefully selected, or they'd be his last.

"Surprise? Junior is overconfident and Torchwick couldn't of suspected foul play….They shouldn't of been prepared"

"They weren't. The deal was interrupted"

"The police?"

"No, a girl…A very strange one at that" Kurgar turned around in his seat, his hands together to form a small triangle as his eyes glared at Wolf inquisitively.

"Tell me. Everything"

 **So, Jaune's certainly not going to receive the 'Employee of the Month' award and Ruby has still yet to think of a name for her second life. Do you guys have any idea of what her super hero name should be?**


	3. Chapter 3 - Strict, Strange or Red

"Miss Schnee?" She ignored the man beside her, paying attention only to her work, her glove clad hands gliding across the control panel in front of her. "Miss Schnee." The voice came again, it annoyed her. _Who does he think he is? Interrupting my work!_ Her fingers stopped moving as she reluctantly stopped her work, turning her head to face her assistant.

"What is it, Mr Ten?" The anger in her voice wasn't hidden at all, unlike heated debates in the Schnee Co complex, in her personal lab she didn't have to put up the calm and cold façade. "I'm not exactly free to chat at the moment."

Lie Ren had learned long ago that his Boss would probably never remember his name, even when he first became her personal assistant months before, she couldn't get his name right. Whether she genially forgot it or she purposely did it to show her superiority, he would never know. "You have various reports to fill out" He indicated with his left hand that held a small S.C.R.O.L.L, text flashing on its screen. "A sudden change of plans has delayed the return of your sister, so her meeting with our buyers is now your meeting"

A dark smirk reached the snow queen's lips, a short (And elegant!) chuckle at the news. "Good, it's about time I got a chance at proving myself" Though after speaking she fought to keep the smirk, a slight frown tugging at her lip. _So, this is the third week Winter had to postpone her return… And she promised to go to- Nevermind._

"And of course, your coffee is ready" His right hand held the small cup of steaming black liquid, which she took with a slightly nervous face. _Coffee, urg. I prefer tea. Why did I even order this!?_ "Finally, your Father wishes to talk to you"

Weiss didn't resist to frown at the final statement, turning back towards the computer as if ignoring it. The machinery on the other side of the lab churned back to life, various mechanical arms moving around the room at the mercy of her fingers. All the arms took materials from assembly lines on either side of the room, before taking them over to various spots in the room where various machinery stood, the materials stuck onto the machinery and wielded onto them.

"Your Father wishes to talk to you" Ren repeated, though this time it didn't fall on deaf ears.

"I don't care. I have to run HIS company, I don't exactly have time for him to come out of nowhere for a talk!" Her anger was visibly rising, increasing her pace on the computer controlling the machinery.

Ren held the small Scroll up to look through it "He also said 'Then make time'. If you're really that busy, Miss, you could simply ask him to resch-"

"Success doesn't ask" Her hand shot up to tear off her goggles, dropping them to the floor with a sigh. "And neither do Schnees"

* * *

Jaune could tell that she was following him since he left Dust 'till dawn. He could hear the extra footsteps that accompanied his with every step, he could hear her failed attempts to keep her breathing quiet.

His thoughts ran wild with the various reasons someone would choose to follow HIM of all people. Is she a mugger? Did Junior send someone to make sure his job went well? _Is she pissed that I was staring at her back at the shop? What if she's a cop!?_ The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to lose the girl, the various actions she could be capable of terrified him. _I'm scared of what a girl that doesn't even reach my shoulders could do to me…She's probably only fifth teen and she has me scared. I'm overreacting here, I should just calm down an-_

Her phone went off, causing Jaune to scream suddenly (Her ringtone 'put that cookie DOWN!' in the background) snapping to look directly at his pursuer with his eyes flooded with panic. Ruby for the most part, was embarrassed. Not only had she been spotted by the person she was attempting to stealthily follow, but it was because SHE forgot to turn off her phone. _Frak…Frak…Frak. It's okay, Ruby! Just stay…calm…Flash him a smile and say something…SAY SOMETHING! STOP LOOKING LIKE A COMPLETELY DERANGED STALKER!_

"…Hi" _If my brain could sigh, it would._ She stood straight now, her hands behind her back as she gave him an inhumanly large smile. _Tone down the smiles, you're gonna creep him out…More then you already have._

"Uh…Hi?" Was his simple response, both individuals seemingly frozen in place like they were caught in the midst of a crime (Though in Jaune's case, that was exactly what it was). "Were…Were you… uh… following me?"

 _Shizu! He's onto us! Make up an excuse._ "No, I just coincidentally went the exact same way as you at the exact same time from the exact same location" _You're an idiot, Ruby. AN IDIOT!_

"Oh, really? I… guess that makes sense" Jaune lied, not willing to aggravate his pursuer. _Like I said, you're a genius, Ruby. A GENIUS!_ "I thought you might have been a mugger or something" He gave off a fake chuckle.

"I thought you were one too!" _That's suspicious!_ "I mean, of course I didn't because I've never seen you before!" _You talked to him at the shop_ "I was joking, I have met you before, but…Uh…Hi?" _So this is why Yang calls us socially awkward…_

"Is there something wrong?" His eyes displayed both hesitation and confusion. "Because to be honest I can't understand what you're saying…" _Dear Omn, I'm starting to turn into Nora…_

"Oh no, I just…Sorry. I'm not that good with other people" She sighed, her head hanging in embarrassment as she mentally continued to slap herself.

A chuckle came from Jaune, an actual one this time as he looked at the innocent girl. _Yeah, you're paranoid Jauney-boy._ Because when looking the girl over and how she acts, all his thoughts of the horrors she could be capable of faded away. _Just look at her, if she's out to mug me, she's certainly good at pretending not to…_

"It's fine, I'm not exactly the best with people myself" He explained, sticking out his hand towards Ruby with his head turned away, still a bit nervous of over stepping his bounds. "I'm Jaune, Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it"

"Do they?" The response was one that never failed to appear every time Jaune introduced himself. "I mean, I'm Ruby. Ruby Rose! Sorry if I scared you, I was just coming to tell you that Flynt didn't mean to be so…rude back in the shop. He's a really nice guy!" _Good excuse, but you were following him…_ "But when I got here, I couldn't work up the courage to speak…so I waited until I did" _Nice save!_ Ruby quickly took hold of Jaune's hand and gave his hand a more forceful shake then she should of.

Jaune didn't complain, but he did get to realise that the girl had a grip of iron. "Ah! It's nothing, really. I wasn't offended or anything, though I was kinda scared for my life"

"Flynt? Scary?" Ruby laughed, she didn't mean to insult Jaune or Flynt, but he's never been scary before. Though he was really tall. _His Old Man though? Now that is one scary dude! He'll fix you with such a disappointed look._

"What can I say? He's taller than me…" Jaune attempted to defend his 'honour', though it didn't help that his voice has fallen to an ashamed squeak.

 _Good work, Ruby. Next you can tell him how scrawny he looks!_ She immediately rushed over to pat the man on the back, deathly afraid she was indirectly insulting him "W-well, you just don't know him. When you know him like I do, you'd know he wouldn't hurt a fly!"

* * *

The small insect let out one last cry of 'No regrets!' before Flynt's hand slammed into it, a relieved sigh coming from him as the fly went flying off of the bridge of his nose. The setting's sun golden gaze streaming through the window beside him made it a bit hard to spot the fly, but a lucky shot had the insect lying dead on the counter top.

"WHAT IN THE BLAZES ARE YOU DOING DOWN THERE!?" The withered yell came out louder than intended, but that was par for the course for Flynt, the yell followed by a trail of footsteps moving through the ceiling.

"Nothing, Gramps! Just swatting a fly" Flynt replied in a much quieter tone, though loud enough for the old man to hear him.

The footsteps feel to a low thumping rhythm, the old man making his way down the stairs. Though as he got closer, Flynt's eyes wondered towards the envelope that still sat on the counter. Biting his lip, a brief panic in his eye, Flynt slid the envelope off the counter just as the door began to open.

When the old man, grey hairs, bald spots and all stepped into the room Flynt had managed to stuff the envelope into his pockets. Beady eyes stared at Flynt suspiciously, to which Flynt simply gave a 'Totally-not-nervous' cough.

"A fly?" The man questioned, approaching Flynt with his suspicious gaze still intact, cautiously looking around Flynt for anything noteworthy. His nose wiggled before he stepped back a little, a look of disgust on his face. "They're probably attracted to that stink you call deodorant! This is why you should be showering five times a day!"

Flynt chuckled, fully pushing the envelope in his pocket before reaching over to pat 'Gramps' on the back. "Words of wisdom, I'm sure" One thing that would be immediately noticeable to anyone when looking at the two is that neither shared any physical traits with the other, there was really nothing that made the two look even remotely related.

Gramps crossed his arms and fixed Flynt with a stern scowl "You're mocking me, aren't you? I thought I told you to respect your elders"

"I think that ship sailed a long time ago"

The old man nodded in agreement, scooting in between Flynt and the counter with a cloth in hand to wipe away the remains of the insect. "Don't get smart with me, the customers already do that enough!" The store owner's voice was loud, something which Flynt had gotten used to over the years.

"What customers? We've barely had any this month" Flynt crossed his arms and leaned against the counter, a sigh coming from the old man as he moved away from the counter and towards the nearby closet.

"Here we go again…" He opened the closet and retrieved a small wooden broom from within it.

"We're a business, we need business to survive" Flynt pointed out, following the older man as he began to sweep the floor.

"I know that! But what do we do? We can't compete with Schnee Co" He shook his head, sighing.

"Hey! They may be a global success and gross billions a year, but they ain't go what we got" He moves over to the dust canisters and tubes, patting them with a single finger. "They don't got natural dust. They lose the soul when they pump it out daily" He leaned against the canisters. "Besides, when have you ever wanted to compete?"

"I didn't mean it like that, I just…I'm just stressed and these old bones can't take it, with Schnee representatives knocking on our door every week..."

"Hang on, what do you mean they're knocking on our door?" Flynt crossed his arms and advanced upon the man, who in turn looked to the floor.

"I shouldn't of said that…"

"Gramps, if something is going on-"

He placed his hand on Flynt's shoulder "It's nothing to worry about, my boy. I shouldn't have said anything"

"But-"

"It's nothing, Flynt" The man looked up to Flynt with a face of slight regret "Trust me"

"I do trust you, but you don't trust me!" Flynt turned away from the old man, stomping towards the front door.

"Where are you going!?" Gramps dropped his broom, hastily following Flynt to the door. "It's going to be dark soon!"

"I'm going out" That was all Flynt said before pushing through the door and slamming it shut, leaving the timid old man staring regretfully at the retreating form of his 'son'.

* * *

Ruby sometimes had to really step back and wonder how she got herself into these situations, she was never the most socially adequate person. She was the kid that would have her head stead in fairy tales while others 'talked' and 'bonded' with non-family (Nora was basically family at this point). So, with that, she again had to wonder how the hell she ended up in a diner, sitting across from another person and actually conversing.

"So, you're new to town?" The currently blushing girl asked, stretching out her words in a slow tone to try and sound more… normal. Though she wasn't doing herself any favours as she stared intently at her milkshake glass, half of the pink liquid inside was already gone.

"Yeah, I moved here about a month ago. It's been a tough time, the city is Big" Jaune sat opposite her in their booth, his head leaning on the window beside them with his blue eyes staring off into the strange mixture of stone and steel that made up Vale. "It's easy to get lost"

Ruby took to glaring at her milkshake, blaming the product of milky goodness as the sole reason for her being in this awkward conversation. The two had been talking on the street when Jaune had suggested they take the conversation into the nearby diner, at the prospect of milkshakes Ruby's mind had gone blank causing her to only nod.

And now here she sat. "Yeah, I know all about that. If I didn't have Nora, I probably wouldn't have found my way back to my apartment when I first came here" The small girl rubbed the back of her head, embarrassed. "I found myself needing Nora a lot to get around!"

"She's your roommate, right?" Jaune seemed to be the calmer of the two as they conversed, much more easily bringing up topics. Though Ruby wondered if he was experiencing inner turmoil as well and was merely a very good actor, considering that she was tailing him for possibly being a criminal, there was a good chance that Jaune realised what she was doing and was attempting to put her in a false sense of comfort.

"For three years now" She explain, looking up from her milkshake with a small smile, before mentally berating herself. Don't tell him too much, Ruby! You'll only endanger Nora if he's more then he lets on, change the subject! "How about you!? Live with anyone?"

Jaune's shoulders went noticeably limp and a sigh escaped his lips, making it hard for Ruby not to feel sorry for bringing it up. But the sympathy washed away as she continued to remind herself that he's a criminal, well, she at least thought it was washed away.

"No, I came here to live on my own" He gritted his teeth. "To prove to myself I can make it on my own" His gaze was then drew to his wrist, where for the first time Ruby noticed that he wore a bracelet around his wrist. It looked homemade, out of twigs, leaves and beads. The bracelet didn't look like that much, but the way he stared at it and ran his fingers over its misshapen form seemed to indicate otherwise.

Ruby downed the rest of her milk shake to distract herself from the silence that fell over the blonde haired boy, this only managed to make her feel more for the boy, hoping that she hadn't over stepped a boundary and asked the wrong question. "You know, you don't have to answer if y-"

"No, it's fine!" He interjected with a genuine smile "To be honest, this is the most I've ever been able to say to a person in one go. Usually by now I run out of things to talk about"

"I know that feeling" She giggled, looking back to her times back in school, where she used to be quite the stutterer. "What do you do for work?" While she actually did find herself enjoying the conversation, she still had to remind herself to remain focused on getting info from Jaune.

"Kind of… It's a very demanding job, but it pays enough to put food on the table. Especially with this week being so crazy"

"Crazy?"

"Yeah, just a few days ago, something amazing happened" He was about to continue with his statement, but seemed to decide that it wasn't worth it. "Nevermind, you wouldn't believe me"

"Try me"

The boy pondered on Ruby's request for a short while, before giving in and leaning forward. "Okay, so I was uh… minding my own business one night, just walking down the street. When I suddenly heard people yelling at each other, and when I looked towards the source of the yelling because I'm curious; I see two groups of armed criminals arguing. A bulky, hairy guy and some guy that looked like he walked straight out of a mobster movie"

Ruby's eyebrow raised slightly as she realised where this was going. He was at the deal! "So, I'm just watching, slowly walking away. Because I don't wanna get mixed up in that. But I stopped when suddenly, from thin air, appeared her. At least I think it was a her, it has a girly voice"

"So the amazing thing is that you saw a girl?" Ruby inquired while raising the pitch of her voice slightly, hoping Jauen didn't recognise her voice at all.

"No, no. This wasn't just a girl, this thing wasn't human. It didn't even have legs! Just a scarlet cloak cast over nothing, I couldn't see it's face. Without any warning, it whipped out a damn scythe and started cleaving up the gangs"

Ruby coughed quietly, just now noticing how much red she was wearing as she sunk under the table. "A scythe? So, the Grim Reaper?" OOO, maybe I should call myself the Grim Reaper! That would make those criminals wet themselves… Or maybe Angle of Death? No, to long. Crescent Rose? Nah. Maybe…

"No, it was more like a spirit… A wraith. It was a Red Wraith!"

"THAT'S IT!" Ruby unintentionally stood up and cheered her words, scaring the hell out of Jaune who now fell backwards into his seat.

"Huh?"

The young girl froze with a completely embarrassed expression plastered over her face. With a akward smile and giggle, she slowly sank back down into her seat. "Uh, I mean. I think I saw that thing too. Like, the other day… At night… at a church…"

"Oh, you saw it too? It was a small thing…"

Ruby frowned at Jaune, resisting the urge to yell "Uh, no. You must have been looking wrong because she's actually pretty tall. Well, not too tall, but not short! Average, she's average"

"Uh, okay…"

"And as her cloak billowed in the wind, I could tell that she was a creature of mystery, bt intruige. Who had the grace of a cat"

"Actually, it was quite clumsy while it sprinted around waving the scythe…"

"Well, you try lugging around a heavy scythe while your long cloak constantly gets in the way of your feet!" The supposedly innocent girl shot back at Jaune

The boy in question was currently taken aback, her words making him want to back away slowly as she seemed almost offended at what he said "You're getting a little defensive"

"Well of cou-….. Oh, am I? S-s-sorry, I just really admire people who honour the colour red…" Ruby laughed as loudly as she could, looking almost exactly like a uncuffed mental patient. Ruby, this is your brain. I'm officially applying to be transferred to another person. Ergo, YOU'RE AN IDIOT!

"Riiiight…" Jaune gulped nervously, slowly shuffling to the side away from Ruby, now seeing her as if she was a bomb waiting to explode.

"I'm sorry, I-" Again, the familiar ringing of Ruby's phone swept through the room, seemingly coming as a relief to both. "Oh, look, a distraction. Let's talk about this, never again!" Grabbing her phone from her pocket, with a single press of a button she realised that the caller d was Nora's. "I have to take this… You might want to cover your ears"

As soon as Ruby hit the answer button, a voice louder than an orchestra exploded from the phone. "Ruby! Where have you been? I was so worried about you when it had been twenty minutes and you weren't back and I really needed some dust and the pancakes were burned an-"

"NORA!" Ruby screamed into the phone to interrupt the energetic red head that obviously had skipped her class on punctuation. "Calm down! The apostaphe is not your enemy!"

"What the hell was that!" Jaune gasped from his place on the floor, having fallen off his chair in surprise at the sudden explosion of sound.

"Who's that!?" Nora gasped "Have you been kidnapped!? Are you being mugged!? Break his legs!"

"I'm perfectly safe, Nora. Remember who you're talking to here!" Ruby gave the phone a smug smile… before realising that Nora could not see the smug look. "Anyway, this is Jaune. I met him at Dust 'Till Dawn"

"OOoOOOoo, a new friend? Quick, this is our chance to change our names!" Nora practically squealed "Hello, Jaune. I'm Von'pancake and I'm a queen!"

"Nora, I already introduced you"

"Von'pancake."

Ruby sighed "Okay, Von'pancake…"

"Now, Lady Muffin-"

"No! You are not calling me that!"

From his spot on the floor, Jaune looked up at Ruby with a completely confused look. He was not sure whether to run away, continue staring or just laugh at the insane conversation the two were having. Fortunately for him, the beeping of his watch made the decision for him. Unfortunately for him, the watch was beeping to tell him that he was going to be late, he was supposed to report straight back to Junior as soon as he delivered the package to Flynt.

Admittedly this was something he should of expected after completely side tracking himself and taking Ruby to the diner. Really, he should of just left Ruby on the street after confirming she wasn't attempting to harm him. But, alas he simply could't after finding out how pleasant it was to talk to the girl. As... strange as she was, he felt good finding someone who was so easy to talk to, it had been a while since he actually held a mutally happy conversation with soon who wasn't his family. And even then, his mother was very strict and not even approachable to his father.

"Look, I sort of have to go" Jaune announced, getting back up to his feet and pulling his fallen chair upright. "It's a work thing'' Ruby looked up from her argument with the phone, Jaune hearing a small snippet of her current name being the 'Strawberry Dutchess'. "It was good talking to you" He quickly began to gather up what things he had, before reaching into his wallet and pulling out a few lien, placing the coins on the table. "For the milkshake"

"Oh, well. If you really have to go, see ya!" Ruby tried to sound positive, but a bit of desperation was obvious in her tone. _No, no! He's my only lead on this Torchwick guy AND he's nice, I can't lose him!_ "Wait!" Thinking fast, Ruby did the one thing she had never done before, write down her own phone number. Well, first time writing it down for someone else, Yang was the one who got Ruby her phone and Nora didn't ask for the number, she just took the phone.

Holding out the small slip of paper she ripped from her notepad, she offered Jaune a simple smile, hoping that this wasn't considered creepy or strange. "I'd love to meet up again!" Jaune didn't reply, he only took the paper with a nod and exited the diner. Ruby looked back to the phone. "Alright, so you were saying, Gingerbread head?"

* * *

Weiss didn't like her father. She didn't really know why but ever since she was little he talked down to her, he never looked her in the eye, most of the times he was facing away from her while giving her a full lecture. There wasn't one moment she remembered when he didn't treat her like an incapable employee, where he actually treated her like his flesh and blood.

She always planned to snap at her father, to stride over to him and let herself yell at him. To inform him of just why he never got a 'Father of the year' mug, why she never added sugar to his tea (Even the tiny twinge of annoyance that would flash in his eyes was worth it). Like many times before she was going to push through the double doors into her father's office and let him have it.

And like those many times before, she only got halfway towards him before all her planning was shattered. Her eyes became interested in the expensive rug as the warmth of the fire licked her cheeks, all of her anger, all her courage and all her stubbornness faded away. All replaced by fear.

The man had a way with people, he was whatever he needed to be at the time he chooses. With clients, he's charismatic and professional, to the staff he is clear and straight to the point, with everyone else? The way he avoided looking at the person, the way he always seemed bored at the very presence. It had a way of shaking you and making you feel worthless. That was the schnee way, there is no mercy in success.

Gone was her know-it-all attitude, her cold gaze and ego-fuelled walk, in the presence of her father she had been reduced back to that scared little girl. Who still had to cower in fear of offending her father.

"You're late" No greeting, no name, no eye contact. Just a critique. "Tardiness is unbecoming of a Schnee" Just beside her father's chair, she spotted (To her disgust) her father's favourite hired gun, in all his scraggily glory. _His name is Wolf for Ohm's sake!_

"I-I'm sorry, Father! It was my assistant, he, uh…forgot…" Throwing one of lesser standing under the bus was a common strategy for Schnees, something that aided her for years in this business, leaving any regrets and sympathies she had at the door.

"You hired the boy, his failure to perform his job is your responsibility to deal with" Then came that demeaning sigh, that sigh that practically yelled 'Messed up again, how expected'. "But, on to the business at hand. Were you at least told of Winter's prolonged return?"

"Yes! I have- Uh… Sir!" She stated with a hint of pride, though her voice held a slightly sad edge. _Prolonged…again…_ "Which means that I will still be taking over her duties?"

It felt like he was about to add an 'Unfortunately' to demean her, but he merely continued on. "Yes, you'll be in charge of meeting with our private benefactors in Atlas and… 'thank' them for their continued service and loyalty"

Weiss brought up a hologram in the middle of the room, an image that displayed sets of metal crates being carried by other Schnee Co workers. "They will find themselves VERY pleased with what we've made for them" Pride flooded her voice at the sight of her personal creations capturing the interest of her Father.

"What's inside the crates?" Wolf's constantly smug voice questioned. With a wave of her hand, Weiss made the hologram zoom in on the crates and causing another image to pop up. One particular image caught Wolf's attention, the 'camera' moved around to display each and every part of a large scythe, it's crimson steel handle holding various mini compartments and hooks, while a small trigger joined the blade end to the handle, some of the steel extending past the back of the blade and formed what looked to be a gun barrel.

"This is one of my personal designs, a high tech, dust fueled scythe that can give even the hardest of metals a run for their money" Weiss had her hands on her hips, a large smile plastered over her face. "It can also morph into a high calibre, high precision, grade 3 Sniper Rifle. It fires dust rounds at mock 3, using the user's aura to balance its own weight with the us-"

"What?"

"It's also a gun"

"Nevermind that" Mr Schnee's voice boomed, silencing Weiss before she could go back to monologue about her design. "I leave this matter in your hands, I trust that you will conduct yourself with the grace and cunning worthy of a Schnee" Weiss still stood confident, ecstatic at the chance to handle an important job in her father's eyes for once. "And as a precaution, Wolf shall be accompanying you"

It took all her concentration to not immediately swear or lash out, a brief gaze thrown towards the smirking Wolf. _Of course he sends Wolf. He just can't resist sending along someone to undermine me._ "Wouldn't it be best for my assistant to accompany me? A mercenary isn't exactly good for our image, Sir".

"This deal is not a simple press conference or meeting. These benefactors are coming from Atlas, if anything goes wrong, you'll need an experience body guard" Weiss wanted to ask why a simple transaction of appreciation could be that dangerous, but the man's glare made her think twice. _Besides, this isn't about protecting me. He just doesn't trust me to handle it._ "If anything happens, you will do what ever Wolf tells you to do. Am I clear?"

"Of course, Fath-... Sir"

* * *

Flynt felt a mix of both anger and fear weighing down upon his feet as he plodded along the side walk of the now darkening street, the dimming sun reflecting his own mood as he closed his eyes, gripping the bridge of his nose. He was angry, not at Gramps, but at himself. He knew it wasn't a trust issue, Gramps just didn't want him to worry. But being in the dark only increased his fear.

It was plain for him to see that the store was in a financial hell, while Gramps cleaning efforts kept the store shiny enough for customers not to notice, Flynt could tell that the shine was only a façade. The way Gramps acted before made Flynt suspicious at first, but soon the decline in the amount of customers they got was noticeable. Flynt didn't know the exact numbers, but he'd bet his lucky fedora that if Gramps didn't hide everything from him, he'd find that paying the bills was becoming a struggle.

As the street started to be drained of life and the sky started to be covered by a grim blue blanket, Flynt thought about just what he could do to help. He already knew the answer. Schnee Co utterly dominated the dust market, so much so that even when rumours of misconduct, shady deals and mistreatment of their own staff started to spread like wildfire; they weren't even bruised.

There wasn't anything he could do and he knew it. _Maybe that's why Gramps wouldn't let me know, I would just waste time worrying about something I can't do anything about._

But before he could dwell on the matter any longer, he was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts when his hand came into contact with the familiar end of a car door. Opening his eyes he realised that he had just bumped into the open car door of a very expensive looking limo, from his position he could see just a bit inside, where two freshly polished shoes sat on the crimson car floor right next to the foot of a cane.

"Uh, Sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going" He attempted to turn, but a familiar voice made him freeze.

"There's no need to apologise, we have a lot to talk about" The voice was as smooth as silk, with a tone as venomous and slippery as a snake.

"N-No, I really have to get ba-"

He felt a hand push him down into the car from behind, placing him on the soft crimson floor right in front of the pair of feet, the image of the shoes were soon joined by the glowing white coat and a black fedora upon a sea of ginger hair. With that, he stared into the smug face of Roman Torchwick. "I insist"


	4. Chapter 4 - Mid-Hero Crisis

"Flynt Coal. Musician, assistant and wearer of out dated vests" Torchwick began in a dry tone, placing his cane in the corner, leaning it against the wall of the currently stationary vehicle. The young man on the floor only gave a silent gulp, staring up at the Crime Lord. "That was a joke. You do have sense of humour, don't ya?"

Flynt could only nod in response, losing any sort of feeling in his vocal chords and legs in a mix of surprise and fear. Torchwick frowned at this. "Well, get up and make yourself comfortable. It's not polite to stay on the ground" He raised his gloved fingers to rasp his knuckles against the window pane that separated him from the driver, the car lurching into ignition.

The boy's body acted of its own volition, jumping up at the simple command and sloppily falling into the long couch-like extension of the limo's walls. Preferably, Flynt would have felt more comfortable if he was able to place himself out of the vicinity of Torchwick's view, but the available room seemed to shrink in on him. "Uh, yeah… Very funny, sir"

Reaching into his pockets, Torchwick sent Flynt a grin at the words. "Respectful, your old man raised you well" He pulled out a thick black cigar, his silver tongue clicking against his teeth as he plopped the cigar between his lips. "Though you could improve on your lying" He takes his cane in hand, twisting it so the foot end pointed at his face, and opening up to reveal a small lighter to the side of what seemed to be various pieces of advanced machinery.

"Yes, sir" Flynt repeated, he was trapped in a confined space with a man who's still on Vale's most Wanted List, the boy knew this was not the time to be snarky. "Why am I here?"

"Because you got in the vehicle?" More silence. "That was a joke…" Roman shifted uncomfortably, muttering to himself about a 'tough crowd'. "I wanted to talk to you, about how much I can offer you. I trust that you have yet to open the package I sent you?"

The ex-con threw his hands up with an apologetic gaze. "Look, I'm sorry Mr Torchwick, Sir. But I'm not a criminal anymore, I'm making an honest living now. I left all that… behind me"

"Of course, of course. And I admire you for that"

"A-Admire, sir?"

"I mean, all us down here are struggling to pull out enough green to get out of bed in the morning, because this city decided to turn its back on the poor and defenceless. Instead going to the rich fat cats, spewing their poisonous drivel into our fair city" Out came the cigar, accompanied by a choking breath of smoke a few seconds later. "And here you are, managing to survive straight while we just go off the deep end. An amazing thing really"

Flynt looked down at his feet, trying to block out Torchwick's praise. Gramps had always told him that a compliment is simply a way to let down your guard. "I'm sorry, I'm just brownnosing now, aren't I?"

"No, it's alright" The boy nodded again, while Torchwick was a terrifying man to mess with, Flynt wasn't given any reason to be nervous as Roman has treated him with nothing but respect so far. _I never saw who pushed me into the car._ "But I already said, I'm done with crime"

"I'm not asking you to do anything illegal, Flynt" Torchwick reached over to take ahold of the other man's shoulder. "I need specific types of dust, and you're the only one I trust to be a supplier. You know your dust. Just like you know your way around a saxophone. That ain't nothing illegal is it?"

"I can't just give away dust, business is under as it is"

"You know I ain't a charity, Flynt. But I don't treat anyone else like a charity either. You supply, I pay. It's like a usual transaction for you, you just need to be more… discreet about it. Know what I'm saying?"

"I hear you" Flynt only continued to look uneasy at the prospect, until Torchwick pull out his last trump card.

A thick stack of Lien fell at Flynt's feet. "Loud and clear?" The image of 'Dust till Dawn' appeared in his mind, a closed sign covering the door, the windows allowing a peek inside. To an empty room.

"…Loud and clear"

* * *

"So, you talked to a stranger?"

"Yes!"

"Who was also a member of the opposite sex?"

"And you didn't screw it up so bad that he left?"

"I KNOW!" Ruby continuous proud bouncing at her 'achievement' threatened to knock Ren's herbal tea right out of his hand, he had made Nora stand at the other end of the room for a reason. "And he even gave me his number! Friends do that, right?"

Ren raises an eyebrow, slowly pulling away from the living bouncing ball for the moment. "Various types…"

"Ha! SUCK IT, YANG! I befriended a total stranger WITHOUT help!" Unfortunately for Ren, Ruby's leg came up in her 'happy dance', her foot slamming right into his tea cup. He was not given the appropriate time to morn. "When I tell her, she'll be so proud!"

"Well, didn't it only happen because I sent you to 'Dust till Dawn' " The ginger leg-breaker pointed out, to which Ruby snapped to face her.

The crimson Superhero yelled "This is my big triumphant moment, don't take this away from me!"

"Didn't you follow him because you thought he was a criminal?" Questioned Ren

"Well… Yeah"

"And didn't it turn out that he was?" Ruby didn't even notice that Nora was currently stuffing her face with pancakes that belonged to the Raven haired Vigilante, as she slumped down onto the couch.

"On second thought… Don't tell Yang"

The man gave himself a moment of silence for his beverage, looking back over to Ruby "She's up in Minstral, not much she can do"

"She can laugh…" Ruby's disappointment came muffled through her couch pillows. ""…And then make a bad pun"

"I doubt she could ma-"

"Don't underestimate her power, her puns would make even the most soulless of people sigh!" The girl turned around with the pillow still pressing against her face. "She'll make them go out with a Yang"

Ren and Nora sighed.

"See!?" Ruby sated proudly, viscously poking the air to point at them.

"Back on the subject of this Jaune" Ren returned to a semi-serious expression as he spoke "Did he actually give you any useful information?"

"He gave me his phone number…"

"And?"

"And a milkshake"

Nora rested her head on the arm of the couch just beside Ruby, a frown on her face. "Lucky… We need milkshakes. Let's get milkshakes!"

"Like hell you will!" The vigilante almost shrieked "The milkshake was very filling, especially when I came home to find that SOMEBODY decided to eat all of my pancakes"

"I told you… The pancakes were talking to me…"

The girl crossed her arms, a pout on her lips. "Pancake Theif" Before Nora could initiate her 'Happy Manuver' (A.K.A pinching and stretching the younger girl's cheeks), the lone scream of a police siren broke through the gap of the room's open window. "Ren, fetch me my cloak!"

"…"

"Please?" Soon the crimson piece of cloth had managed to wrap around her head again, coiling round to cover Ruby's vision. "You did that on purpose!"

"That siren's getting quieter…" He avoided the accusation, simply shifting his gaze to the window.

"Right! Uh, cloak. Check. Moonshine, a little… damaged. But, check. Opposite coloured socks. Check" She pushes up the window, allowing the night air to slam into her face and drag on her hair. Making every word a struggle. "Criminals beware, Wonder Girl is here… Wait, no. Pink Fury! No. Mayb-"

"Just go already!"

"RIGHT!" The now cloaked vigilante almost fell out of the window at the yell of 'encouragement' from her friends, but like the 'highly trained and kickass' super hero she was, she managed not to go straight out of the window. "Bla, bla, bla. You guys are amazed. Bla, bla, bla. Here I come" With that final… Sentence, the 'Superhero' leaped from the window, launching herself onto the adjacent rooftop.

* * *

It wasn't the most typical establishment of legal and trustworthy transactions, an old arrangement of broken down tube chimneys atop of the old facility that had once been known as a factory. From what Flynt knew, it used to produce various vehicles for a public sale from recycled scraps, obviously the idea of using recycled, rusty materials to produce products didn't create enough sales to keep the factory up judging from the various unfinished car parts put together and scattered around the grounds.

"Remind me why we're making a deal in a suspicious and abandoned factory where we're probably not allowed" The boy directed his question to the younger and shorter goon beside him, the one he recognised as the messenger the other day. Flynt recalled another one of Torchwick's men referring to the boy as 'Vomit Boy'.

The boy in question seemed to jump up a few feet at the question, his shoulders trembling to such a degree that Flynt almost mistook it for a spasm. "Because the boss said so?"

"You don't ask enough questions" Flynt concluded out loud with a slight shake of his head, pushing forward with a crate supported by his arms. "Ignorance is only rewarded with a lot of stumbling" the quote of his old man only succeeded in dampening his own mood.

"And the mouth that doesn't know when to stay shut gets blown off…" Jaune responded in a more whiny tone, his eyes darting around like he expects Junior to jump out any moment to beat some respect into them.

Another shake of his head, Flynt groaned at the jumpiness of the other boy. "How did you end up as a criminal with such little guts?" He didn't know why Jaune was acting so jittery, in his experience Junior had been one of the most unintimidating criminal he'd ever encounter which reflected very well within his men. I swear to Ohm, Torchwick is making me a babysitter. The thought passed his mind as he witnessed another crony trying to convince another that he needed a break after failing to pick up a crate for five minutes.

For a moment Jaune had his closest impression to a fierce glare pointed at Flynt (Which looked more akin to the look of someone whose about to vomit) "Hey, I have plenty of guts! Just… Not when Junior wants me to do something…" The boy's head sunk to stare at the ground in self-pity.

As per Torchwck's arrangement Flynt had 'transferred' a cargo of different dust crystals to the outskirts of what was considered the 'safe' part of Vale, from there he was instructed to meet Junior and carry the cargo through a long path through a maze of alleyway. Flynt assumed that this was to bypass any security that could catch a glimpse of the tracks to the gang's dealings, he didn't mind this as it lessened any chance of connecting this to his Gramps.

"Uhuh. If you don't toughen up soon, you'll just end up getting shot" The blond boy visibly paled at these words.

"R-really!?"

Flynt could only roll his eyes again (Any more times and they'd threaten to roll right out of their sockets), fixing Jaune with an incredulous look of confusion. _These can't be Torchwick's only gang, they're complete pushovers. Maybe that's why they're doing the grunt work, if they're caught he doesn't lose anything…_ The thoughts were shaken from the boy's mind, he did not want to think like that, if they're expendable, by the same standards so is he. _Just deliver the crystals, take your payment and get back to Gramps while he's still yelling at the TV screen for his game show contestant failing._

Jaune seemed to have calmed down slightly, the colour returning to his face, a sigh escaping his lips. "I'm… annoying you, aren't I?" Flynt did not reply. "I know I'm a failure at all this, it's nothing new…"

"Stop it." Snapped Flynt, a small growl rising from his throat as he easily shut Jaune up. "I don't have time for your self-pity bullshit, I don't want to hear your sob story and I don't want to endure your whining for the night. Clear?" Jaune immediately nodded meekly.

To be fair, he could have phrased that all much better then he did, maybe gently hint at Jaune that there were more things to focus on or try and encourage the other boy to cheer up. But it was 8pm, he was doing something that could very well be illegal and all for the only chance of saving his business. All in all, he was stressed and did not have enough tolerance for a helpless criminal.

Briefly he thought about apologising for the outburst, but looking to the other gang members starting to catch up made him shoo that thought away. You never go back unless you want to look like an idiot, well, in crime at least. Where it can get you killed.

"S-sorry…" Jaune glued his gaze to the floor again, though this required more physical effort on his part as he still held a crate. "I'll shut up now" The boy looked pretty pathetic in his baggy pants, white torn shirt and small black mask.

Wait, mask?! Upon a double take Flynt noticed that this whole time Jaune had been wearing a rather small mask which looked akin to a kids Halloween costume made by someone's mother, a long piece of cloth wrapping around his head with two eye holes cut out. "What…the hell are you…Pft…" Looking at the boy now, Flynt had to admit, the mask just made the boy look pretty hilarious for what was supposed to be a grown man.

"Why are you laughing?"

"That mask, what the hell do you have a mask on for!?" If there wasn't currently a large crate filling his arms, Flynt would have been gripping onto his stomach for dear life. "You look like a five year old"

"It's supposed to look intimidating..."

"Intimidating is a loaded weapon. Intimidating is threatening glare. Intimidating is not a little kid about to ask for candy"

Junior's shrill voice boomed over them in a desperate fashion. "Alright, you mooks. Hurry up. I don't want Torchwick getting pissy at me, so move your asses"

* * *

"Alright, just hand over the bag and I won't have to get rough" The gruff demand of the mugger was probably louder then he intended, bouncing off the walls of the rather brightly lit alleyway.

An old fragile looking lady stood in front of the mugger with not even a hint of fear, only mild annoyance. She bellowed "Arg, not so loud! You'll hurt my poor ears! I'm not 23 anymore, you know"

The mugger was taken aback by the ladies yell, so much so that he almost dropped his weapon. "Uh, sorry Mam!" A few seconds of silent glares followed until the mugger finally screamed. "Wait, why am I apologising!? I'M NOT SORRY!"

In retaliation to the man's screaming the old lady raised a wooden cane over her head and swung it in the mugger's general direction, imediately the man jumped out of the way of the lady's 'fierce' weapon, already failing to hold his guise of 'intimidating mugger'. "Hey, stop that! I'm the one with the gun!"

"Stop, dooer… of evil. I have come to-" Ruby had no time to finish her introduction as a wooden cane came down on her forehead, sending her stumbling forward.

Soon the Old Woman's screeches reached her ears "Stop yelling in my ear, you hooligan!"

"Yeah, kid. You're too loud. Tone it down" The mugger agreed to the confusion of the vigilante, though backing off a little when Ruby gave him a glare.

"I'm perfetly fine with the volume of my voice..." She crossed her arms and muttered a slight 'hmpf' as her bacck hunched over slightly to add to her grumpyness, before she coughed into her arm and attempted to start again. "Now, let's start over. I'm here to kick you to the curve for holding an old woman up at gunpoint"

A roll of the eyes came from the 'victum', who simply responded ''Its not that big a deal''

''He's threatenign you with a gun!"

"It's not even real" To Ruby's surprise upon looking at the gun itself, it was a bright green water pistol which looke no where near authentic. _It even still ahs the price tag on it!_

"Why are you mugging people with toy guns?"

"Look, I'm on a budget. i'm sorry if I'm not the most glamorous mugger, but I don't go around critisising you"

"What the he-" And the cane came down yet again on poor Ruby's forehead, accompanied by a protest of 'No swearing!'. This only confused Ruby more in her already disorientated state, sticking her hand out to press against the wall for support. "Ow…Ow... What the hell is your problem, lady! I'm saving you!" It was supposed to be yelled, but Ruby could only muster an annoyed groan.

"I do not need the assistance of some whippersnapper hyped up on dope!" A log boney finger was shoved into Ruby's face, the fierce face of the old lady (Which looked more like a roaring lion) was even enough to cause the mugger to back away a few paces. "I want your name right now, little missy! Do your parents know about this?"

"D-dope!? I've never taken a drug in my life!" Ruby was taken aback, but still protested with her voice back to it's original volume. She had never even encountered drugs before… _Well, there was those suspicious brownies I stole from Uncle Qrow once, but that is beside the point!_ The mugger had now taken a slumped seat a trash can to watch the spectacle unfold.

"Don't lie to me, girly!" Again the cane came into context with the caped vigilante's forehead. "I've see the lot of ya, down the street with your burned condoms and skin tight pants. Just last week I was assaulted by another girly, she was drooling ya see. Screaming about pancakes!"

Back over on the trash can, the mugger raised his hand with a nervous stutter. "Uh… Should I just go?"

"STAY THERE AND SHUT UP!" The small girl yelled, clamping the man's mouth shut from the words alone.

 _Ohm damn it, Nora._ "That's it, you're insane. I'm done"

"Never turn your back on your elders when they're trying to scold you, I'm not finished. I still have to talk about that ridiculous outfit"

"What do you mean by that!?" Venows poured from Ruby's lips, out of all the things Ruby couldn't stand (Anti-Cookie people, washing machines, Pandas, ect.), overall she hated people who broke rule number 5. Don't diss the cloak. Even if this rule had only been made recently. "THIS CLOAK IS AWESOME, YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, YOU HAG!" The cane struck multiple times "Ow, stop it!"

"Wait until I tell your parents about this!"

"Good luck, they're in another country!"

"Back in my day, the village would punish the child for the parents. We'd hand them by ther ankles until they learned respect"

"I'm not a child, I'm 21!"

"Short for an adult"

"VERTICALLY CHALLENGED!" She shot back with her tongue stuck out in a rude gesture, her arms crossed to add to the very childish image she displayed. Without hesitation her body turned to face the mugger, she could not take this 'verbal assault' any longer _I'm the guardian of the city I don't have time to argue with old ladies!_ In an instant her speed had taken her right to the mugger, without so much as a greeting she grabbed a fistful of the man's shirt and took off at top speed, dragging the now screaming man behind her.

"On a scale of 1 to ten, that was a 'meh'. Too crazy for this crime fighter…" The winding tight dark alleyways past Ruby as nothing more than ink spots in her vision, her feet carrying faster than she could even see, all she focused on was getting far away from that old crackpot. "I mean, I wasn't the only one who thought she was insane, right?" Her gaze swept down to the man who still continued to scream, unable to even hear her. "Oh right…"

The soles of her shoes left a trail of sparks behind her when they slammed into the ground, bringing her body to a skidding and sudden halt. So sudden that the momentum of her run still carried over to the mugger griping her arm, bringing him up to be sent over the girl and landing on the ground. "Anyway, I better get you t-"

Vomit now stained the ground in front of her like a polluted sea of waste, the mugger hunched over the sea clutching his stomach. "EW, EW, EW!" The 'brave' heroine leaped back like she was a fleeing cat, her mouth agape with disgust at the mess before her.

"My stomach… it feels like I left it a mile back…WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" He yelled at her, only remaining stable for a moment before continuing to empty his lunch onto the ground.

"Uh…Sorry…" _Wait, he's a criminal!_ "Wait, no. I'm not sorry. You deserve this for... threatening that lady with a toy gun…" she internally groaned at her sentence, realisation trickling in as she slumped beside the wall, momentarily forgetting about the anguished stomach next to her. "Is this all it's gonna be for me? I mean, I know I've only been a superhero for a few weeks, but you'd think I would have busted more criminals by now. And I mean real criminals, who commit real crimes. That doesn't make me a bad person does it? I just want to do something… productive, not stop stupid illegal copies of DvDs. Or following around nice criminal boys in a way some might think is stalking. Or getting conked on the head by an old lady" The vomiting ensued beside her, the man starting to tear up slightly.

"Yeah, your right. I HAVEN'T EVEN THOUGHT UP THE NAME FOR MY PERSONA YET. What kind of a hero forgets something like that? An amateur, that's who. I just don't know… Maybe I just need to get my hands on something big, maybe I need to find some big criminals. Get my name around… May- Would you mind? I'm trying to have a heart to heart here and your vomiting is making me lose fo- OH COOKIE DOUGH, I'M SO SORRY!"

The man scrambled away from the girl at an impressive rate considering that he was on his hands and knees, it only taking him a moment to reach the lamp post on that illuminated the long alleyway. Ruby followed hs actions with a confused stare, watching as he wrapped his arms around the lamp post crying ''Just leave me for the police, just no more. I don't care about your problems, please, just shut up!"

After delivering a swift kick to the man's stomach the vigilante sighed and did just that, tying him to the pst and writing 'Criminal' in big black letters on his forehead _So the police don't miss him!_ Soon she was alone to climb back up to the roof of the nearest building grumpily, never taking off her frown even as she enjoyed jumping from window and small crevices in the walls to make her way up.

"I can't just wait on roof tops and hope I hear criminals tiping me off with random screams that they're doing somthing illegal, I need a better way to find out where everything is going down... But how? Maybe I can start a secret network of hobo spies? I mean, hobos know everything; that's why everyone always called Uncle Qrow a hobo''

Quite suddenly her barely sown in pocket on her costume errupted in various vibrations accompanied by the soothing tones of 'PUT THAT COOKIE DOWN!', it was her ringtone. Who would call her at this hour? "Ren and Nora know what I'm doing, and Yang is too lazy to even try and do somthing this late..." She pulled it out of her pocket and the screen illuminated her dimly lit position on the roof, a number flashed on the screen along with the words 'Unknown Caller'.

With a suspisous glare at the phone she pressed the green symbol to answer the call, being greeted by a kind elderly voice. "Uh, is this.. The short girl? Miss rose? I hope I got the right number, my minds still not caught up to today..."

"Wait, are you... Flynt's old man?" She let the short comment slide for the moment when she realised that the man had a very worried undertone to his voice, plus the fact that Flynt's gramps was calling her must of meant that something was up; while she had spoken to the man on a few occasions (She enjoyed small talk about book stuff that apparently all the other young people weren't into, when the store was empty he would even make her tea. Though she always dreaded making him mad), but this was the first time it's ever occured without them just happening to see each other at the store.

"Just call me Gramps, dear" There was a moment of irritation, but what ever was worrying the man made him miss Ruby calling him old, something that he would usually do somone's head in for. "And I just wanted to ask... Uh, have you seen Flynt today?"

Flynt? Had somthing happened? "I talked to him this morning at the store, he seemed fine and all. Why?"

"It's just that he left an hour or so ago, looking very... Conflicted. And this was just ater he had an outburst before when we had a fight" Regret rung clearly as the man's voice gave an unsure moment of breathing in before continuing. "I know I shouldn't worry too much, he's an adult now. But, I just... He's usually home by now. You don't think that he's gotten involved with anything dangerous, do you?" Ruby picked up on a bit of hesitation as the man talked, there was somthing he wasn't telling her, but it wasn't her place to pry.

"No! Flynts got a good head on his shulders, he wouldn't do anything stupid. Not unless he had a reason" The Old Man sucked in some air. _Or maybe Flynt does have a reason. What aren't you telling me, Gramps?_ "Tell you what, I'll look for him and tell him that you're worried. Do you know where he was going?" The girl moved away from her spot with the phone to her ear, moving her gaze around to look to the buildings around her, as if she'd suddenly spot Flynt by accident.

"Will you? Thank you, you're such a nice young girl! He said he was going to Glaston Street, you know with that Goodwitch Bakery, near the Security Checkpoints to Downtown"

Without hesitation Ruby looked towards the general direction of the street in question and took off, leaping from the roof and saying a quick farewell to the man before hanging up. Yes, she knew that street well, and not just because of there was a bakery there. It was a natouriously low populated part of vale for the simple fact that it was the closest street to downtown before the security checkpoints, meaning a night sleeping there was basicaly opening your door for a criminal. To most it's simply a haven for the criminals who took over the Downtown areas making a break for it and trying to slip past the law. Whatever buissness Flynt had there, Ruby doubted it could be anything good.

"I'll bring Flynt home safe... I promise"


End file.
